"Debuted at an Unattractive Age" "Heavy Plastic Surgery" HYBE Idol Appearance Evaluation Document Under Fire (Summary)

Appearance Evaluation Internal Document..."Collected Fandom and Industry Reactions"
Deleted After Controversy Following Statement on "Holding Responsible" During National Audit
Kim Tae-ho COO "Accepts Criticism That Statement Was Inappropriate"

HYBE, the largest music agency in Korea, faced controversy after being criticized at the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee's audit for preparing industry trend materials that included appearance evaluations of minors.

Jeon Jae-su, Chairman of the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, during the National Assembly audit (photo above), and Kim Tae-ho, COO of HYBE, who appeared as a witness (photo below). [Photo by YouTube capture]

On the afternoon of the 24th, HYBE issued a statement during the audit, saying, "The monitoring report disclosed during today's audit is a document that compiles various reactions and public opinions from fandoms and the industry."

As the audit proceeded, HYBE's explanatory statement prompted further criticism from committee members. Kim Tae-ho, HYBE's Chief Operating Officer (COO), who appeared as a witness at the audit, ultimately apologized on site.

Earlier, Min Hyung-bae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, presented HYBE's 'Weekly Music Industry Report' during the audit and pointed out the 'appearance evaluation' content. The document contained harsh phrases such as "They debuted all at once when the members were at an age when they looked unattractive, so none of them have typical idol facial features," "The plastic surgery was too extreme," "They looked shockingly unattractive," and "There is a noticeable tendency related to sex appeal."

Min explained, "There is a problem because it contains dehumanizing perceptions and attitudes toward idols."

Kim Tae-ho, HYBE COO, said about the document, "As a company involved in K-pop, we are very carefully monitoring the public opinion that fans and the industry have about HYBE artists and K-pop in general. The document you showed is one of those."

Regarding the controversy over appearance evaluations of minors, he clarified, "This is not HYBE's opinion or official judgment," adding, "It is a compilation of many online comments."

HYBE Headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

During the audit, HYBE stated in its position paper, "The monitoring report disclosed at today's National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee audit is a document that compiles various reactions and public opinions from fandoms and the industry," and explained, "It was created by extracting responses from communities and social networking services (SNS) as they are, for internal reference by a small number of people within the company, and it does not represent HYBE's stance."

HYBE also said, "We will hold accountable those who leaked the report externally by selectively piecing together some provocative content to make it appear as if HYBE criticized its artists."

This statement issued by HYBE during the audit rather worsened the situation. Committee members strongly reprimanded HYBE, and the audit was temporarily adjourned, resuming at 10 p.m. with only Kim Tae-ho COO remaining among the witnesses and reference persons.

Jeon Jae-soo, chairman of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, scolded Kim Tae-ho COO, saying, "The audit is in progress, yet the company issued a statement that rendered the audit meaningless and undermined the authority of the National Assembly in this manner. HYBE is a leading company driving Korea's K-content. How can you respond so irresponsibly like this? Do you think the National Assembly is that easy to handle?"

Min Hyung-bae of the Democratic Party asked, "What do you mean by 'we will hold accountable to the end'?" Park Jeong-ha of the People Power Party pointed out, "It feels like it suppresses free discussion or debate within the company."

At the end of the audit, Kim Tae-ho COO bowed his head and said, "I humbly accept the criticism that the statement was inappropriate. Issuing a statement during the audit was a clear mistake on our part. We understand the importance of the audit and had no intention to undermine the authority of the National Assembly. I sincerely apologize once again."

He continued, "We received a flood of media inquiries asking for our position regarding the mentions about our company, and it was difficult to respond to each one individually. Also, content that was not covered in the audit and content that was mosaicked during the audit were leaked as is, and we judged that the distortion and spread on online communities were quite rapid."

The statement posted on the website during the audit has since been deleted.